After seeing off Minato, Anya returned to the room. He immediately put on a cheerful expression and approached Tsunade without a word.
"What do you want?" Tsunade gave him a disgusted look. After all this time with him, she knew Anya quite well. Whenever he wore that smile, it meant he was about to ask her for something.
Anya said cheerfully, "Could you leave the sealing barrier open a bit longer? Of course, I won't try to escape. Don't worry."
Tsunade quickly caught on. "Are you planning to use the Spirit Transformation Technique? Who are you trying to meet?"
"Ahh, I want to see Konan," Anya sighed. "Ever since I became her teacher, I've been locked up before getting a chance to teach her anything. She must be feeling pretty lost after graduating from the Academy by now."
Tsunade had almost forgotten that Anya even had a student. Remembering their old agreement, she frowned. "Do you really plan to let her go back to Hanzo's territory? Don't forget, she's a Konoha ninja now."
Anya quickly replied, "Each hidden village has its own intelligence network, don't they?"
"Hmm?" Tsunade's expression turned serious, her tone clearly displeased. "Was this your plan from the beginning?"
"At first, yes, it was," Anya understood Tsunade's personality well enough to realize her overly kind nature was acting up again. He didn't argue directly but instead explained tactfully, "I'll give her the chance to choose for herself, and I'll respect whatever decision she makes. No matter which path she takes between the two, I won't force her."
Hearing this, Tsunade couldn't help but sigh and muttered the same words as White Fang once had: "I just don't get how you always have so many hidden motives. Isn't the war already over?"
Anya firmly replied, "Believe me, the war will start again."
Not knowing whether she truly believed him or not, Tsunade simply waved her hand. "Fine. Go ahead."
"Thanks," Anya said gratefully. His dark soul separated from his body and soared toward Konan.
Inside the Hokage's office, Danzo stood before Hiruzen, his voice laced with fury. "Is that what imprisonment looks like? He moved straight from maximum-security confinement into a luxury mansion. Now it's even worse—his surrounding sealing barrier has been completely removed. Hiruzen, since when has Konoha become so lenient toward criminals?"
Hiruzen cast a cool glance at Danzo. After taking a deep puff from his pipe, he slowly responded, "Danzo, could it be that you're scared?"
"Scared?" Danzo's lone eye flashed coldly. "You think I'm afraid of just some teenager?"
"Regarding White Fang's death, you know exactly what role you played," Hiruzen's temper rose as he spoke. "Anya already knows about Nocturne. That means he probably has also guessed the truth behind Nocturne. Danzo, tell me—what exactly were you thinking? You drove to death someone who contributed greatly to our village."
"Heh," Danzo sneered coldly. "I wasn't the one truly responsible for driving White Fang to his death, and you know that well, Hiruzen. The moment he abandoned his mission, he could no longer be considered a true ninja. For him, his death was simply a matter of time."
The Third Hokage fell silent after hearing those words. For some reason, he suddenly recalled a conversation Anya had once shared with him. Deep in his heart, he felt a subtle stir. He waved his hand at Danzo and said, "Enough. As for Anya's matter, I've now fully entrusted it to Tsunade. If anything truly happens, she will take responsibility. There's no need for you to interfere."
Faced with the Third's dismissal, Danzo snorted coldly and turned to leave the office.
On the crystal ball atop the Third Hokage's desk, an image displayed Anya's current location. In truth, ever since Anya had been imprisoned in the maximum-security wing, the Third had never stopped monitoring him closely. Originally expecting Anya to cause some kind of disturbance, he miscalculated—a year had nearly passed, yet Anya remained quietly obedient, without even a hint of rebellion. This made the Third wonder whether he'd gone too far in dealing with him.
Already having lost his mentor, coupled with imprisonment, anyone with a weaker psyche would've probably caused a riot by now. Coincidentally, Tsunade kept coming to bother him until he had a headache, so he simply gave in and released Anya halfway through.
Throughout this past year, Tsunade visited his office more times than ever before combined. If the Third couldn't see through her intentions by now, he wouldn't have deserved being Hokage all these years.
From initial disbelief to firm opposition, and finally going with the flow, the Third's inner journey had indeed been complex. Now, he had thoroughly understood—if these two truly ended up together, it wouldn't be a bad thing for Konoha. Anya's talent was unquestionable; surpassing the White Fang was only a matter of time. With Tsunade keeping him in check, his likelihood of betraying the village would be extremely low. The Third knew Tsunade well—there was no doubt about how much the village meant to her.
The second point concerned Minato Namikaze. The two had grown up together at the ninja academy, sharing deep friendship and nearly equal talent. Therefore, the Third specifically granted Minato visiting rights—this was the second lock he placed upon Anya.
Love and friendship—under the constraints of these two bindings, Anya was very unlikely to become another Madara. As he smoked his pipe, the Third pondered silently.
Anya's soul found Konan when she was furiously attacking a wooden post.
[Paper Shuriken!]
Under her hands, numerous sheets of white paper transformed into razor-sharp projectiles resembling kunai. Every circular mark on the wooden post was pierced with pieces of white paper. As the chakra faded, the razor-sharp paper kunai drifted down like falling leaves.
At this moment, Anya couldn't help but think—if Konan could further develop this jutsu, weapon shops in the future might lose half their business.
Just as Konan finished training and was about to take a short break, Anya's soul directly entered her space.
"Teacher?" Inside the mental realm, Konan recognized him immediately.
"It's me." Anya praised, "I just watched your training—it seems your progress has been fast. Becoming a chunin is just a matter of time."
Konan nodded joyfully, "I've noticed it too, sensei. Did you come out early?"
"No, I sneaked out. Since you've already graduated, it's time I asked how you truly feel about our promise. I've never forgotten it."
Anya's words left Konan speechless. She hesitated—in truth, she felt at a loss. After all, she had been diligently cultivating all this time just to graduate sooner and fulfill her promise, to return to Yahiko and Nagato as quickly as possible.
But how come? When did my thoughts begin to change?
A sudden wave of shame welled up inside her.
When she said nothing, Anya continued, "Of course, I'm not sending you there right now. After all, I'm your teacher, and I haven't even taught you anything yet. Sending you off like this would make me uneasy."
Konan felt an unexpected sense of relief and asked, "Then should I wait for you to come out?"
Anya shook her head. "No need. I've arranged for someone else to take over your training. I believe he won't be any worse than me."
"A new teacher?" Konan questioned somewhat unwillingly. "Who is it?"
Anya slowly uttered a name: "Orochimaru."
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